This Is Me
by Jewel1001
Summary: Four years ago, I woke up. I have no memory of anything before that, I don't even know my name. I had nothing except one card. Who was I? Who am I?
1. Prologue  Amnesia Is My Life

Hazeru - This may take a few chapters. It's got a bit of a weird start, lol.

Hera - Enjoy, though!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Prologue

Amnesia Is My Life

My name is Jaden Yuki. I am twenty two years old.

This is all I can tell you. And to be honest, I can't tell you that with any great certainty.

If I want to play games, I can tell you that I am, technically, four years old. That's because I only remember back four years.

I was found by the local police on a beach with no visitors - it's a miracle they noticed me there at all. I was lying on jagged rocks for what could have been anything up to eighteen hours, and I suffered some scars and bruising. The bruising is gone now, the scars - some of them - are still visible. I try not to look at them, and yet I often do, just because I know for sure how they got there. I awoke with only one thing in my possession, and that was a card.

I don't know what the card is for, what it's purpose is. All I know is that, when I woke up, it was clutched in my palm, not a scratch on it, though the corner was slightly bent.

She is the only card I have.

Yubel.

I know nothing about her. And she is nothing but a card, so it's not like I can talk to her. But I keep her with me. I have to. Just in case she meant something to me before, in case I had her for a reason.

I don't know anything about who I was before I woke up on that beach, or how I got there. I just know that it was then that my life began.

I don't know for sure how old I am. Looking at myself in the mirror and based on medical tests, I reckon about twenty two. That's the age I sign on any applications or important documents. If anyone asks for a birth certificate I have to say that I don't have one. Because I don't really have a past.

I don't even know my real forename. I called myself Jaden because it sounded good, and I pieced the name together from other sources. I don't want to bore you with the details. But yes, that is what I called myself. By some stretch of fortune, perhaps it is my real name. Perhaps it's nothing of the sort.

There is one thing I know for sure. Just one thing. And that is this: my last name is Yuki.

I know this because it is forever engraved in my skin.

On the back of my left shoulder, the name is in my skin, a permanent scar. Not like a tattoo or anything - it really is a scar. It looks almost as if pieces of my flesh were purposely torn out to create the four letters.

To be honest, this scares me. Was I the sort of person who would do that to themselves? Was it something I did on a dare or to be part of a gang? Was it some tribal ritual? Part of voodoo?

These are guesses. They could be accurate or they could be utter trash. I just don't know.

My last name is Yuki. Fact.

My first name is Jaden and I am twenty two. Fiction.

I make up details for my life because I don't know anything for sure. I woke up with nothing, not even my memories.

I do odd jobs around the place - everything from sweeping up in the hairdressers to being the part time librarian. The first I got bored of, the second I found too quiet.

Sometimes I wonder if I have any family or friends that are worried about me. I sometimes wonder what I'm doing in Scotland, when my accent is nothing like anyone else's. I am not from around here.

I cling to my accent, however. Just because it's a part of me. One of the few parts of me that I have.

I've done background checks and gone to the police. Know what I've found?

Nothing. I don't exist. The name Yuki doesn't exist.

But I know - don't ask questions, I just know - that it is my surname. I can feel it, sometimes quite literally. It can sting a little, because it must have been freshly done when I passed out of my old life and into this new one. It wasn't completely healed and I suffered an infection. It's gone now, of course, but every so often I get the slightest twinge of a burn there. I wonder if it's psychological or truly pain. I don't care, though.

Why should I?

It's just like everything else in my life.

It doesn't make sense.

Hazeru - Jaden has no memory, and he can't talk with Yubel, but at least he has her card.

Hera - What's going on with him?

Hazeru - And he's in Scotland? Why? And what's with the name 'Yuki' torn into his flesh?

Hera - All will be revealed. R&R please. No flames.


	2. Chapter 1  That Can't Be Me

Hazeru - We're going to learn a little more about Jaden.

Hera - Any guesses?

Hazeru Lol, let them be. Enjoy the chapter! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 1

That Can't Be Me

Working as a cashier is uninspired, but it's all I can think of right now - it pays the rent, and that's what matters. What do I have to worry about, anyway? I have nothing to concern me besides myself. That may make me sound selfish, but it's true. I have no family that I know about, and the odd friends I've made in the last four years are more acquaintances than true friends. I move around so much that I don't get the chance to really make many friends, and I'm not one for keeping in contact anyway - I wonder if I was always this was, or if this is a new trait that I've developed since losing my memory.

Sometimes, when it's late at night and I'm about to fall asleep, I stare up at the ceiling and let my own worries fill the room, a dark essence of doubt and unknowing.

Who was I, before? I am old enough to have married, to have had children. Well, maybe not children, seeing as I'm not into women, but still … there's always adoption, a surrogate mother. I have recurring nightmare that I'll walk down the street of a small town one day and have a children run up to me and cling on, calling me her dad, and I won't know who she is. It terrifies me to think that I may have left behind people to worry - parents, siblings, a lover, children. Maybe I was completely straight before … maybe I have kids.

I don't dwell on the possibilities because I know that I can't. I've tried everything I can - remedies, fortune tellers, mystics that claim they can see the past; you name it, I've done it - but nothing helps. I don't remember anything.

All I want is my memory.

Or maybe I don't, and that scares me even more.

What if I was a really bad person, like a murderer or a terrorist? What if I hurt people, innocent people?

The worst part is not knowing.

/

"Thank you, come again" I say - the trademark goodbye of the store I work at, a requirement.

Working here is dull. I think I'm going to quit soon and get a better job - not that there are too many going around here, but hey, whatever I can get is fine with me. I'm not really bothered by what job I do, though I would like to have a job that could contribute more to this place - I'd like to help people, not just press buttons on a till all day long.

I'm more than relieved when the clock at last strikes five o' clock and I can leave. I take my time in gathering up my bag that contains my cell phone and suchlike - all bought recently. It even has the card in it.

I sneak a quick peek at the Yubel card before I leave for home. Sometimes, I sit with that card in my hands and I stare at her, for hours on end. I hope shamelessly that staring at that card will make me remember - but it never does.

I take her to work with me because I take her literally everywhere with me. I'm too afraid to leave her at home when I go out, just in case there is a burglary and she is stolen. I'm not sure why she is that hugely important to me, but she is. I have to keep her safe, because she's the last link I have to the me I was before.

/

My apartment has the same musky smell that it's had for four years, ever since I moved in. I'm not sure what gives it this unique scent, but I sort of like it. It smells like home - home now.

The few 'friends' I have, if I've told them about my past - or lack thereof - tell me that I should just move on and make myself a life from scratch. But it's not as easy as that.

I want to know. I want to know because I can feel it, in the bottom of my heart - I have something to return to. Something, someone, some_where_, needs me. I just know it. It's the feeling I get every morning when I wake up and every night before I fall asleep. It's the feeling that every day I don't know, I'm letting them down. The only problem is, I'm not sure who 'they' are.

Friends? Family? Cards?

What are the cards for? Nobody here has them. I've looked online - they don't exist. And yet, every day I see Yubel's card, and I know - don't ask me how, I just know in my heart - that there are more cards out there somewhere. I don't know why they're important, but I believe they could well be.

And if they need me, I may never be able to do anything for them, because I don't know who I am.

I am Jaden Yuki, cashier thinking of quitting, twenty two. My temporary identity.

But who am I really?

/

I stand in front of the mirror as I prepare to go to bed, brushing my teeth with the cheap toothpaste I always buy - have I always used it? The mirror is covered with fingerprints and it could really use a wash, but for the life of my I can't be bothered. I have bigger worries than a mirror that isn't spotless.

I spit out the minty froth in my mouth and look at myself in the mirror.

"Who are you?" I whisper to no-one.

And then it happens.

I am suddenly standing in a dark wasteland. There is a huge castle behind me, the sky is dark. There are monsters everywhere - real monsters, all shapes and sizes, and some of them look terrifying.

I stare at this scene. Am I dreaming? Yes, I have to be.

Because, there, I the midst of all this, I can see myself.

The person who looks like me stands directly opposite me, and I notice the differences in us - and that doesn't count the fact that he is dressed all I black while I tend to go for a red jacket and white jeans. No, it's his eyes. Mine are a rich chocolate brown - complimented by many, may I just add - and his are not. They are a golden colour, and cold, too, like there is no love in them.

He looks at me like he knows me - is that me? Do I have a twin brother, or what?

"You remember me."

His voice, it's so similar to mine, though not quite identical.

"Who are you?" I whisper.

"I'm coming back" he says, and a smirk grows on his face. "You have to return. Remember yourself."

"Remember … myself?" I whisper.

And then it is gone.

The wasteland, the monsters, that man … they've disappeared, and I am standing in front of my mirror at home, the one with the fingerprints on it.

I am gasping - did I fall asleep standing up or something? Was that a memory, a vision?

What the hell was that?

I turn around, shaking my head, convinced that I am so tired I am hallucinating.

But when I turn around, I do not see the dirty bathtub that I should be faced with. Instead, I come face-to-face (or face-to-chest, because she is taller) with Yubel.

I gasp, and she is gone.

I shake my head again. Okay, now I know I'm hallucinating. Jesus, I really need more sleep.

And yet, as I get into bed and pull the covers over my head, I can't help but think about Yubel - she seemed translucent, like a ghost, a spirit.

I truly am tired - the reason for those visions, hallucinations? - and so, despite my conflicted mind, sleep finds me easily. But the last thing my mind registers before I fall asleep is the memory of the one who looked so much like me, and seeing Yubel in the bathroom, and the sadness in her eyes.

Hazeru - He saw Yubel but she vanished, and why is she sad? What is Jaden seeing?

Hera - R&R please.


	3. Chapter 2  Old Memories

Hazeru - Sorry for the long wait, here's the next chapter.

Hera - Not much happens, but it has kind of essential information regarding the storyline.

Hazeru - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 2

Old Memories And New Friends

After several days of the activity, I realise that there is an art to it, and that I can create a masterpiece.

The best position for the art to take place is to lie flat on my back and to close my eyes, shutting out all the light of the outside world. The technique works best in a silent room, so I normally attempt to hack in when it is dark and everyone in this part of the world is asleep, save for the poor sods on night shift, or those who shift restlessly in their beds for want of slumber. I doubt that anyone else lies at three in the morning doing what I do.

The silence and the dark is what seems to work for me, and I hack into the memories as best I can - I get better every time I try. At first, all I could see was a simple still image. I saw a dark landscape, viewed from a window. A castle window, I later found out.

I am not attempting to hack into a computer network, but instead into my own past. If I can retrieve all my memories - they must be somewhere in my head, _somewhere _- then I can get my life back.

This life I have built for myself, as Jaden Yuki, is a simple life, but I know that, although it is all I know, it is not _my _life. I have another life and I have to get back to it. It could be terrible, but at least I tried. And what if it is so much better?

I lie now in my bed - technically _on _the bed, since I don't get under the covers - and close my eyes. In the small hours, I can hear nothing but my own breathing, that calming, constant rhythm, and I am able to think clearly.

I want to see him again. Just for a second.

He has never said anything more than 'I am coming back' or 'remember'. I wish he would say something else. I wish he would tell me his name, because he looks so much like me that …

If the eyes were only my brown colour, I would demand a name and an explanation, for I would believe him to be a past version of myself. Alas, his eyes are golden. He is not me. And yet … he seems to be just like me in every way, except for those cold stares and pitiless glances at me. I like to think that I am a caring individual, for the most part. The boy I see is not caring at all. I don't need to hear his words to know that much. He is cold and distant, and when he smiles it is only ever the smile of a predator sneaking up on its prey.

Scrunching my eyes closed, I try to focus, as I have done many times since our first 'meeting'.

Every time I see him. Every time I talk and every time he repeats what he said the first time. I am expecting nothing more from him tonight, though I always hope. Expectations and hope are two different things, and both are, in their own right, highly dangerous.

I expect him to say something, so when he doesn't I am disappointed and angry.

I hope he will tell me what I want to know, so when he fails to do so, I resent a boy I haven't ever truly met.

He says nothing to me, though he does appear. I ask him the questions I always do.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" I beg him, ready to grovel if I have to, though I would hate to do it - but anything is worth having those memories back, let me tell you. "Why is it I see you whenever I want to see you?"

I am ready for his response: 'remember'.

But it does not come. Instead he merely looks down and then vanishes, as if he were never there.

And then I open my eyes and I have lost any traces of him ever being there at all. I open my eyes and I am back in my own bedroom in this dingy house in a life that is not my own, where I carry nothing, not even a real name.

/

I hold my lifeline and press my lips against the card, careful not to get any saliva on the precious card I hold in my grasp. Ever since that night when I first saw him in my mind - when I first saw Yubel, truly in my room and not in my mind - I have spent several minutes a day with this card. I speak to her and ask her to reveal herself to me, but there is never any form of response.

Or maybe there is and I just don't really notice because what I want from her is the truth, some words, some recognition. But maybe she is powerless to give these things to me.

On the other hand, she has given me lots of possible signs, if I choose to take those natural phenomena as signs.

There was the time I said 'I wish I knew you'. And suddenly, there was a mighty clap of thunder and flashes of lightning and the rain poured - when it had been clear skies only a moment before.

Then there was the time I threw the card down in disgust and suddenly I collapsed to the ground myself, my stomach cramping in the most terrible stomach pains I had ever felt.

I suppose they could be taken as signs that something was going on, that Yubel was listening and hearing me. Better yet, that Yubel understood me. And she was none too pleased about me trying to shut her out, either. She liked it when I paid her attention. She gave me signs that she heard and acknowledged me.

But none as powerful as the one she gave me then, at three in the morning, when I picked up her card for the tenth time that day …

Hazeru - Hope it was okay, hopefully get an update reasonably soon, to all my stories.

Hera - So what did Yubel show him? R&R please.


	4. Chapter 3  Memories Flooding Back

Hazeru - Sorry for the wait.

Hera - Since people asked for this to be updated, here it is.

Hazeru - Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 3

Memories Flooding Back

I see Yubel one more time, and this time it is for longer. She does not speak nor move, instead she stands in the one spot for a full five minutes, her mismatched eyes focused intently on me. Her face is unreadable, an impenetrable fortress, but her gaze burns. Literally; the scar on the back of my shoulder pricks with fire when she looks at me, causing me to wince involuntarily. I have to fight to keep my eyes open because I am afraid to close them; if I do and Yubel disappears, I will feel more defeated than I ever have before in this fake life of mine.

It is late at night and I haven't tried to reach into my mind for a few days - the energy has been pulled out of me, though I have no idea why. But when I do finally try again, I am not even a minute into it when my eyes snap open instinctively to stare at Yubel, partly in horror and partly in awe. She is terrifying, she is beautiful, she is mysterious. Most of all, she is annoying, because I desperately want to know who she is. I have no real idea.

Yubel is a card, the card I woke up with and the one with whom I will never part from. However, in and of herself, she is a stranger to me. I don't know who she is or where she came from, though when I force myself to stare into her eyes - briefly, for my scar stings more when I look directly into those eyes - I can tell that she knows me.

I only wish she would speak. I want her to talk to me, tell me who I am and who she is, but she doesn't say a word.

And when I open my mouth to ask her for myself, she is gone. Just like that, Yubel vanishes and I am all alone in this house with nothing but a card for company. I lean forward to pick up the card I had previously been holding but I am forced to drop it - the card is burning.

How is this possible? Yubel's card is impossibly hot to touch, but it is fully in tact and carefully kept; it isn't on fire.

I don't know what that was. I don't know how to call her back to me. I don't know what to do.

So I am, I suppose, very lucky that the door goes at this moment and I have to stir and go answer it.

Although when I do, I wish I hadn't.

Because this is the point when my fake life begins to fade and my old life begins to return, and in these first moments, I realise that my amnesia was never a curse.

It was a blessing, one that I wished away.

How foolish I was.

/

"Thought we'd never see you again, Your Highness."

"You gave everyone a real shock when you disappeared."

My head is aching and so I can barely make out the words being said, nor see the people speaking them. It is dark in this van - there are no lights and we are in the back of the dingy van, being bounced around terribly since whoever is driving is doing so recklessly and at a speed far over the limit.

I am not alone. There are two people here with me - how did I get here?

The memories from a short while ago flood back: I answered the door and was blindfolded and dragged out the door of my house, a hand over my mouth to stop me making noise. I'm glad only that I had my wits about me enough to shove the precious Yubel card deep into my pocket, wondering how it got here.

One of my kidnappers must have picked it up. But why? And how? It was so hot to touch …

The blindfold is gone now but it is too dark for that simple fact to really make a big difference. Too dark for me to see who is in front of me.

"Who are you?" I growl, trying to sound threatening and unafraid; I don't succeed.

"Easy there, mate, you got nothing to be afraid of" one voice answers - an Australian accent, which surprises me, since I don't know anyone with such an accent. At least, Jaden Yuki doesn't. "We've just come to take you home."

"What?" I gasp.

Take me home? Where is home? Where are we going?

"There's no point, Jim. He doesn't remember us."

"Who _are _you?"

Now I'm desperate enough that I don't even care how pleading my voice must sound. These people, I think they are from my past. They know me even if I don't know them. They could hold the key to revealing my past to me.

"Calm down" the second voice says. This one has a different accent, closer to home. "I'm Axel and this is Jim."

"We're your advisors, mate."

"Advisors?" I ask, completely confused. "I don't get it."

"Of course not" says the second man - Axel, I think.

"See, we lost you a while back. Nobody knew what had happened to you. The place is falling apart without you, Yuki, one of the rival counts is still trying to take over" Jim says. "See, we were just going to rule ourselves but then we got a tip that you were here, and we looked around for you until we were sure."

"Sorry, but I … I don't …"

"Easy, mate. You've lost your memory, right?"

I nod, forgetting that they can't see me, but Jim still seems to understand.

However, he doesn't answer me. Neither of them do, and when I start talking they tell me to be quiet until we get to a safe place.

I don't know whether to be reassured or terrified at this news.

Hazeru - Sorry if this is confusing; I have a plan, honest.

Hera - Please R&R. No flames.


	5. Chapter 4  Unwelcome Realisation

Hazeru - This is my third update today! :D

Hera - And it's about time we updated this story, so sorry for the long wait.

Hazeru - Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 4

The Beginning Of Unwelcome Realisation

When the van at last grinds to a halt, we have been travelling for what I am sure must have been longer than an hour, and throughout this time there has been no more talking from me or my two captors. Whoever has been driving has been going far too fast – there's no road in this country which allows such a speed, of that much I am certain – and so I have absolutely no idea as to where I am.

It does not help that, just before we get out of the van, I am blindfolded once again. They tell me that it is to stop the sudden sunlight from hurting my eyes; I know that it is more likely to stop me from seeing where we have ended up.

I try to listen to the footsteps as we walk together. There is a hand on each of my arms, Jim and Axel keeping my walking at their quick pace, but their grips are reasonably loose and not painful. Then there is another person, someone who is walking ahead of us and, if my guesses are correct, opening doors as we go.

As we walk, my heartbeats steadily increase until the pounding in my chest becomes physically uncomfortable, and I wonder what it is that is causing it; somehow, this doesn't feel simply like fear or anticipation. No, it feels like more.

In my head, I go over the situation again and again. I have been kidnapped by three people, two of which are Jim and Axel and one unknown, and I have nothing with me save for the Yubel card which is still in my pocket; I am glad that she is still with me, if only because these people seem to be linked to my past and so is that card. I would not part with Yubel for anything, even though her card did burn earlier...

I still don't understand this. I don't understand how I am seeing her, either, or who the mysterious man who looks exactly like me but with gold eyes actually is. I don't understand any of this. Even more annoyingly, I do not know these people who seem to know me.

And yet, I am not frightened, not as much as I know I should be. If anything, I am slightly in awe; this could be my chance, possibly my only chance, to figure out who I really am. This might be the only way to find out who 'Jaden Yuki' should be.

We continue down the hallways – I think that's the best description I can give, considering that all I can see is the darkness of the blindfold – until we reach a place in which I am sat down on a wooden chair and the blindfold is removed.

Blinking to adjust my eyes to the dull light of the room, I realise that we must be in some kind of abandoned warehouse. There are cardboard boxes scattered around and looking like they have been in that condition for some time now; the only light in the room comes from a fading, bare light bulb that hangs on bare wires from the ceiling; the floor is dirty and dusty; the air is stale. Nobody has used this room in a long time, that much is obvious.

Until now, at least. Now, there are four people here, myself included. And under the dull lighting, I am able to make out at least the basic features of my kidnappers.

One is very tall with a hat and a bandage covering one eye. He doesn't appear outwardly threatening, although the bandage does leave a lot to the imagination.

Another is a bit shorter but still taller than me, dark skinned with a nose that is on the large size, and a very serious face. His clothing intimidates me; he looks to be something like a soldier.

The last is a fair bit smaller than these two, and stands a bit off from the other two, like he is not part of their team. He is wearing all black and has black hair and black eyes, appearing to be something like a Goth at first glance. His skin is very pale and his features are cold.

So these are my captors.

I try to speak, but the tallest of the three holds his hand up to stop me; I don't know why I am obeying their rules, perhaps just because I am entirely confused and unsurprisingly a bit scared. So I don't talk, but I do look quizzically at them. They brought me here specially, since they abducted me from my own house, and they made sure that I brought the Yubel card with me. They appear to be connected to me from my past life, and there was mention of two of them being my 'advisors', whatever that means.

If they brought me here, then there must have been reasons. I want to know everything that they can tell me, anything that they can tell me.

Except that when they begin to talk, I realise how much better off I was just not knowing. Sometimes, you know, ignorance truly is bliss.

I learn that the tallest one, with the hat and the bandage, is Jim. The dark skinned, intimidating one is Axel. The pale, grumpy one is Chazz.

Jim and Axel claim to have been my advisors. Chazz claims to have been my right-hand.

None of them have told me who I actually was, and when they look at each other and decide that their 'time is up' – whatever this means, I do not know and they do not tell me – they all look at me intently, causing me to freeze.

"Do you really not remember us, mate?" Jim asks, his voice strangely gentle.

"I've told you, I don't remember anything. I don't even know what you guys are talking about" I say, entirely truthfully; I don't hide that I have absolutely no idea what is going on. "Will someone please just tell me something!"

"No time" Axel replies shortly.

"He's as much of an idiot in this world as he was in ours" Chazz grumbles, glaring at me; he does not look at me with kindness and yet I get the feeling that he cares about me, and I have no idea how this works. "We have to get going."

The other two nod at him, and then they all turn back to me.

"Yuki, you're needed back in the world you belong in" Jim tells me, looking serious. "We can't take you back tonight since the portal only carries three at a time, but we'll be back for you tomorrow."

"What ..." I begin, but I am interrupted.

"This will all make more sense later" Axel reassures, "when you get your memory back."

I gape like a fish out of water, shake my head to regain my senses, and then begin with my long, long line of questions.

"What are you going on about with this whole 'other world' thing? What portal?"

Once again, I am cut off.

"There'll be time for this later. For now, we've got to get going" Chazz says haughtily, and he stalks off out of the room, leaving me, more confused than ever before, with Jim and Axel.

Axel whispers something to his companion before following Chazz out of the room. Jim, the sole captor remaining, shakes his head at me.

"We thought we'd lost you, Your Highness" he mutters. "Don't worry, mate, Axel's right: this will make more sense once we get you your memories back. Shouldn't be too hard once you're back in our world."

"What are you..."

Jim once again holds up his hand to stop me.

"We have to go. But we'll be back tomorrow. There's some food and water and supplies in the room next to this one. Don't go running off now, mate, or it'll take us a while to find you again" he says, his tone so friendly that I become even more confused. "Trust us, it'll get easier."

And with that, he turns and heads towards the doorway, but when he reaches it, he puts one hand on the doorframe – which has paint flecking off at regular intervals – and turns back to smile at me.

"Oh, and sorry about the whole kidnapping thing" he says. "We would've just talked to you at that place you were at but the portal opens more easily around here."

Without waiting for a reply, he departs, closing the door behind him and leaving me to realise that I have just been ordered to stay here for the night in this abandoned warehouse until they come for me the next day.

They are not regular kidnappers, in any case; that much is obvious. They have given me free reign here, only asked me to remain here, and apparently they have left me with supplies to get me through the night.

I could run. I could get away, leave the country, hide from everything that has happened tonight.

I could. I maybe should. But I won't.

I will stay here and do as they have asked in waiting for their return tomorrow. I know that logically this is absurd and that I shouldn't be trusting men who were deluded enough to kidnap me, but this is the only lead I have found in four years as to who I really am. I have to do this, because this is the only chance I have to learn who I really am, and no matter what this might mean, I will take it, because anything's better than not knowing.

Hazeru - Any guesses? All shall be revealed...

Hera - Please R&R


	6. Chapter 5  Homeward Bound

Hazeru - Another update, horray!

Hera - Hope everyone enjoys :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 5

Homeward Bound

I realise quickly that the men who kidnapped me the previous evening are men of their word; they return to collect me at sunrise. During the night, I have not slept a wink, kept awaken instead by my anticipation, fear and excitement at the prospect of at last learning my true identity. I am nothing short of stunned by all that I have been told already – other worlds, portals, the fact that they refer to me as 'your highness', all that stuff; it makes no sense whatsoever – and although part of me is greatly worried about what else I might learn, it is not enough to stop me from being excited.

When the sun rises, which I can see through a window – I am not forcibly contained here, since I have walked outside the warehouse for fresh air – I feel, rather than see, the men who enter the room, and as I turn around to face them I recognise them instantly as being Jim and Axel, my supposed 'advisors'. The third man, Chazz, is not with them this time.

"Ready to go, Your Highness?" Axel asks politely, although he does not smile and I am still vaguely intimidated by him; he rather makes me feel like a child, although I suspect much of this can be put down to confusion.

I don't know how to answer him. Am I ready to learn the truth about my past? Yes. Am I ready for whatever they have in store for me? I doubt it.

But I don't voice my uncertainties; instead I just nod in acceptance. The two nod back at me and then we go outside, me walking in between them although they aren't holding onto me this time; I'm left to my own devices.

We walk through the deserted halls of the warehouse and outside into the fresh sunlight, which is overly bright for the first ten or so seconds that we're outside but soon my eyes adjust to the light and the brightness isn't so uncomfortable. Now that we're outside, I can see the two of the more clearly; much more clearly.

Their clothing is ... strange; there's no other way I can describe it. I've never seen people wearing such clothes, not even at Halloween. But it isn't their clothing which stuns me – what surprises me the most is the way that they move so easily with these hulking objects attached to their arms. Jim's is in a boomerang style; Axel's looks more like a weapon.

I stare at them, wondering what on earth you could ever use such a thing for. Fortunately, from at least one perspective, Jim notices me staring, and he grins at me.

"It's called a duel disk, mate" he tells me. "You used to be great with one of these!"

I don't know quite how to reply to that. A duel disk? I've no idea what they do, never mind whether or not I'd be able to use one properly. Evidently there is a lot for me to remember, and hopefully I will do so soon. After all, I've learned more about myself in these last few hours than I have in four whole years.

I don't reply to him, instead I just nod. And neither of them pushes me to say anything; they just walk with me until we reach another, much smaller warehouse – most likely used originally as a storage area – and we go inside.

The two stop and watch me intently as I stare at the object in front of me.

There is a light, that's all I can say. A vertical beam of light, about a meter and a half in diameter, which extends from the floor to the ceiling, and looks like it might easily pass straight through the ceiling and up to the next floor. I gulp as I stare at the white light; is this what they meant by a portal? If so, I don't think I wanted to know.

I take two hesitant steps back, unsure. Is this really what I want? After all, whenever I thought about learning the truth about my past, I never imagined anything like this...

But no, I won't back out, I won't give in. I know that, if I were to chicken out now and turn down this opportunity to learn the truth about myself, I would never be able to forgive myself.

I follow Jim and Axel towards it, wondering if it might burn or hurt to move into, but when Jim steps forward, straight into the beam, he disappears and in the brief half a second in which I can see him being engulfed by the beam, he does not seem to be in any pain. I gulp and turn around to look at Axel; he nods in reassurance, and this is all it takes for me to make my final choice.

I take the deepest of breaths and step into the light.

/

When I awaken, I immediately tense and mentally test all areas of my body for any signs of pain.

There is no pain, just a minor discomfort in my lower back, as if I've been lying in a funny position. I keep my eyes closed for a few seconds before I dare to open them.

Immediately, I snap them shut again.

The room around me is dark. There is only one single flame burning in the far corner of the room, only partially illuminating the space, and if there is a window in here, then it is letting no light in. Perhaps it is night-time here.

"You okay, Your Highness?"

I recognise the voice to be Axel's.

Hesitantly, because I have never been more uncertain of a situation in the four years I can remember, I reopen my eyes and take in my surroundings in more detail.

The room is very dark, with only a few tapestries hanging from the walls. There is no carpet on the stone floor, and I realise that I am lying on a stone surface, which explains the back pain. I sit up uncomfortably, finding it easier. From this angle, the room is a little lighter, although still a bit gloomy and very bare.

It is only when I sit up that I realise there are five other people in the room with me, all watching me intently.

Three of them I recognise. Jim and Axel hover near the archway that must be the only entrance to the windowless room. The man nearest to me is Chazz.

Two of them are completely unfamiliar to me, and they stand over by the far wall. One is about my height and dressed in a silvery-white suit with a tie, arms folded. He has silver hair and bright blue eyes, and seems almost out of place in this dark room. His companion fits in so much more. The other man is much taller, with dark blue hair and teal eyes, and wears a long black leather jacket over black clothing.

They both watch me and when my eyes rest on them they both nod, but neither of them smile or give me any other signs of friendliness. I can't help but find them a bit intimidating, although maybe I'll get over that. After all, Axel seems somehow less intimidating now that I've seen him reassure me and ask after my wellbeing.

"Welcome home, Your Highness" Jim says, and he grins at me, stepping in my direction.

"Where are we?" I ask, my voice sounding breathless.

"We're in the lower levels of the castle. Once the ladies have prepared your chambers, you can settle yourself back in" he answers.

I gape at him; _castle_!

I am about to throw questions at him – out of those that I already know, I am most trusting of Jim – but I don't get the chance.

"Introductions might be a good place to start" one of the unfamiliar men, the taller one, suggests, and Jim nods in agreement.

It seems that it's up to him to tell me, and he gestures to everyone, himself included, as he introduces them to me.

"Well, mate, I'm your advisor. The name's Jim Cook. This here's Axel Brody, your other advisor."

I nod in understanding; this is not new information.

"This is Chazz Princeton. He's your right-hand man. Like a trustee" Jim continues.

I nod once again; I knew this from yesterday as well.

Then Jim gestures to the two men I don't know, and I listen carefully since I know that whatever he says now will be new to me.

"These guys are your Lords. They deal with ... well, basically all the stuff the advisors don't" Jim tells me. "The one in black's Zane Truesdale. The little one's Aster Phoenix."

The shorter of the two glares at Jim, unhappy with being referred to as the 'little one', but he doesn't comment.

Unsure of correct protocol, I hesitantly nod at the two of them.

"And now, Your Highness, we'll tell you who you are" Jim continues.

He has my full attention; this is what I've wanted to know for four years. The moment of enlightenment has come at last, and I want to know everything.

Hazeru - And what will he be told?

Hera - Find out ... next chapter!

Hazeru - The plot is beginning to unfold, lol.

Hera - Please R&R.


	7. Chapter 6  Lack Of Progress

Hazeru - Finally I'm updating more regularly.

Hera - Hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry it's a bit short.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 6

Lack Of Progress Plus Confusion

My head rests on the overly fluffed pillow and my hands hesitantly caress the high thread count blankets; in the back of my mind, I wonder what material they are made of, since it feels unfamiliar to me – just like everything else in this world.

The world that I supposed lived in, up until four years ago.

So much information in one night and yet it is all a fairytale to me. I have remembered nothing about my past, although I have been filled in on a few missing details. All the others seemed to be convinced and understanding of the situation, so I am fairly certain that everything Jim told me earlier was the truth, but I still don't remember. Nothing's come back to me at all.

Once they realised that I was clearly not remembering, they decided to let me rest for the night to give my brain some time to take in all this new information.

After all, everything I have been told seems like a nonsensical story, so much so that I am almost inclined to not believe a word of it...

And yet, I can somehow feel that they're not lying. I really am ... who they said I am.

Not Jaden Yuki. He really is a fairytale. And from what I have been told, I am more around the age of nineteen, not twenty-two. I'm younger than I thought.

With a deep sigh, I lie back properly on the bed, which is very big and spacious and comfortable; it could easily fit four people. There is a glassless window covered by a red material curtain and a black carpet covering part of the floor, just beside the bed. There are torches around the walls that provide light for the room; though I can smell the burning, I don't find it particularly unpleasant. My so-called private chambers are far more pleasant than the previous room I was in but I still don't like this place, and it is apparent by now that there is no way for me to get out of here safely.

After the short talk Jim gave me, I was placed in the 'care' of my right-hand man, Chazz, and the Lords, Zane and Aster, and now I have been allowed to rest. My advisors have gone to sort out some things. Apparently, they want to 'try something' tomorrow to see if it will jog my memory.

Did I mention that I was highly confused? I have absolutely no idea what to think about all of this.

Jim basically told me that I was the King here, and that I disappeared four years ago without a trace. Since then, they have been trying to keep the peace but monsters in this land are becoming increasingly rebellious and now there is one rebel count that is threatening to take over the land once and for all, and they need my help to stop it. They need their King back.

But I am not a king of anything! At least, not any more.

What Jim has told me makes no sense to me. It explains why I have advisors and why I am referred to as 'your highness', sure, but that doesn't make it seem any less nonsensical to me. I am still lost.

Me, a king? It's just not possible. How could I have possibly forgotten about being a king? It's just ... I can't wrap my head around it at all.

And so I lie on my bed – that I don't remember as ever actually _being_ my bed – and close my eyes, and although I am sure that I am too hung up to sleep, my body is physically exhausted and it takes very little time for me to collapse into a state of blissful unconsciousness.

/

There is a voice at my side, pulling me from my slumber, and I groan slightly as I reluctantly open my eyes. My eyelids feel too heavy. I look towards the sole, curtained window and find that I can see the tiniest ring of half-light peeking out from the side of the curtains. I realise that it has become lighter, but not quite light enough to properly be daylight; maybe the sun is just rising.

Once I have woken up a little – which takes no time given my state of anxiety – I look up at the person who has woken me to realise that there are actually two people. I gulp slightly because, truth be told, I am not at all sure about these two, but I am a tiny bit relieved to realise that I at least know who they are: the two Lords.

The taller one tells me that my presence is required in the meeting room while the shorter one offers me his hand; I accept it mainly because I don't want to offend them, although I'm not sure this is what they're used to when I see the mild surprise evident on his face.

"A meeting?" I ask, uncertain.

"It's more of an introductory setting" the shorter one tells me. "Just until you get your memory back, so that you know who everyone is."

I nod at him, thankful that, when you talk to him, Aster seems a bit friendlier. I'm still unsure of his companion, though, who is presently hovering by the doorway, looking at me like he can't decide whether or not to say something. I wonder if I should ask him what's wrong, but luckily for me, Aster beats me to it.

"Something wrong?" he asks, and if I am not mistaken there is a hint of teasing to his tone.

The other one frowns slightly before replying, "You sure it's a good idea to let the rest of them see him dressed like that?"

"Oh" Aster murmurs, looking me up and down in silence; his facial expression speaks for itself.

I glance down at my clothing; it's comfortable, plain and modern. In other words, my clothing is the polar opposite of the clothing worn by the people here that I have seen. In comparison to Zane's black leather and Aster's formal suit, my clothes are shabby and old; tasteless, even, with no colour harmonisation whatsoever.

I look up only when I hear footsteps, and I turn my head to the right in order to see Zane opening up a wardrobe – from this angle, its contents are hidden from me – and, presumably, rifling through the clothes inside. While he is thus occupied, Aster continues to study my appearance with a wholly unimpressed look on his face; unsurprising, considering his own pristine appearance. If I were to wear such pale coloured clothing, it'd be filthy within five minutes. How he keeps it so clean I doubt I will ever know.

Of course, I have no time for such matters. I have to go and meet people and regain my memories; my memories of being the king of this world.

And before I can even begin to do so, I must, so it seems, look presentable.

There is silence in the room until Zane walks over to us and hands me a small bundle of black clothing. He and Aster then exit the room to stand outside the door whilst I get changed; Aster hastily informs me that I have to hurry.

When they are gone – albeit, temporarily – I clutch the new clothes tightly against my chest, my knuckles turning white with the skin tightening and my eyes clenched closed. I don't want to admit it but I really am becoming more and more frightened as this goes on; it won't stop me, of course, from finding out more, but I must admit that the feelings is ... unpleasant.

Nevertheless, I dutifully change into the clothes Zane picked out for me. They are quite simple, I suppose; skin-tight black trousers, loose black shirt and a black jacket edged with gold to go over the top. My shoes are already smart and ebony, so at least they match; I quickly comb my fingers through my messy hair in a feeble attempt to tame it.

After all, I should probably be making a good impression – I have no idea what I'm up against.

Hazeru - Jaden was the king? That setting off any bells? xD

Hera - Please R&R


	8. Chapter 7  The Meeting

Hazeru - Sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter.

Hera - It may be a bit confusing, but all shall be revealed. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 7

The Meeting

The new clothes I have put on rub uncomfortably against my skin as I follow the two Lords through endless, enormous corridors lit up by torches; these clothes have been made to look good and definitely serve their sole purpose but they were not made for comfort. I suppose, though, that it is fitting, considering how genuinely uncomfortable and frightening I'm finding the atmosphere.

The two walk in front of me in silence, both of them with perfect posture and long strides, although I note that Zane's are far longer due to his longer legs. I hurry to keep up with them, my eyes raking in the surroundings – everything is made of stone and although there are odd tapestries and banners, the walls are mostly plain; the floor beneath our feet is polished stone; the ceilings are all very high; the torches are all freshly lit and burning brightly. Most importantly, though, is this: whenever we move from one corridor to another via a large hall, all eyes are on me, and there are many, many pairs of eyes; all belong to people dressed in far less grand clothes than the two Lords or the advisors or Chazz.

Servants! The realisation hits me like a ton of bricks: I have servants.

Of course, there is not time for me to ponder this before we finally stop in front of a huge, wooden door – dark wood, darker than mahogany – which the two push open, and I realise that this has been done so that the first thing the people already inside will see is me myself.

I gulp when my eyes adjust to the dim light of the room – the torches bathe everything in a dull orange glow – for there are more people than I was expecting, all seated around an enormous circular table, made of a wood that is similar to oak although I doubt that it's made of something so familiar; nothing here is familiar to me.

Three people I already recognise: Jim, Axel and Chazz, who are seated farthest from the door, a space in between Jim and Chazz – the empty chair is not a simple chair at all, but a throne, and I realise with a gulp that this is my seat. The empty chairs next to Axel are reserved for the Lords, I think.

But there are more people. People I do not recall ever having seen before in my life, although they all smile kindly at me as though they recognise me.

There are two people sitting beside the empty chairs, a man and a woman. The man is classically good-looking, with deep brown hair, chocolate eyes and broad shoulders, all accented by his cheeky smirk that he gives even me. The girl beside him looks a bit like him, although her eyes are of a duller colour and her hair is lighter, a dirty blonde colour, and much longer. He wears a blue and white suit; she wears the feminine equivalent of this with a skirt and tight shirt.

Before I can say anything, Zane and Aster have closed the doors and have taken their seats, leaving me standing, confused, at the doorway; I'm immensely glad when Chazz rises from his seat – a begrudging look on his face, I notice – and comes to stand beside me. Then he gestures to the people at the table, introducing them to me in turn.

The man and the woman dressed in blue and white are introduced to me as the under-lord and lady, who are brother and sister. Chazz explains that they work in the position beneath Zane and Aster and take their orders from them; their names are Atticus and Alexis.

Beside them is a young man with a serious face, gray hair and gray eyes, who is wearing a yellow uniform.

"This is the Duke of Darkworld. His name is Bastian" Chazz tells me, and I nod to the man, who returns the gesture, although he inclines his head respectfully – I somehow wish that they'd stop showing me such respect, because I don't remember ever having done anything to earn it!

I want to tell them this, but Chazz is moving on to the next stranger before I have time, and I want to keep up, even though I already know I'm going to have problems remembering who is who and what job everyone has.

"That guy's Hasselberry" Chazz tells me, pointing to a tanned man with a military uniform on, although not like one I've ever seen, who sports brown eyes and black hair. "He's the head of security around here."

The man opens his mouth to say something, a grin on his face – I like this guy already, he seems friendly – but a frown from Axel stops him, and he settles instead for nodding at me in the same way they all do; I don't like this, but I don't say anything.

Following this introduction, Chazz gestures to the final person at the table, a short man, who looks a bit younger than the others, with aqua hair and soft gray eyes, who is dressed in a brown, smart tunic. He smiles at me friendlily but shyly.

"That's Syrus, your secretary" Chazz tells me, and I gape, but he continues. "The King's secretary mainly deals with letters sent to other counts and lords and all that stuff."

And with this, Chazz leads me unceremoniously – grabbing my arm in a way that clearly the others disapprove of – towards the throne; he sits down next to me and watches impatiently while I hesitantly lower myself onto the chair, which feels massive and far too stiff and rigid for my taste.

So; Jim and Axel are my advisors, Zane and Aster are the Lords, Atticus and Alexis are the under-lord and lady, Syrus is my secretary, Bastian is the duke of this world, and Chazz is my right-hand man.

I am still confused. I am still uncomfortable, admittedly afraid and frustrated at my own inability to remember. But now that the introductions are out of the way, we all fall into conversation – one-sided, for the most part, since everyone is interested in conversing with _me_ and I don't know how to answer – and I know that this is their attempt to jog my memory and make me remember them all.

/

I close my eyes and attempt to hack into my own memory, in the same way I have been doing recently. I hope to see the gold-eyed boy who looks so much like me; I want to ask him what's going on and who he is, and I want him to answer for once.

But there's a problem this time: I can't see him. I cannot get into my own head and it drives me mad. I sit at the table with my fingers pressed to my temples, rubbing the skin softly, while the others all sit silently, patiently, and waiting for me to come up with answers.

Answers I do not have and do not know how to get.

I have told them all that I know ten times over and I don't have anything more to tell them, but they all want me to supply them with more informative. I tell them again and again that I don't have it, but they are persistent and by now it's highly frustrating.

I don't remember, which is all that I came here to do, and I'm getting their point. They want me to return here to reign over this world permanently, and although that sounds simple enough, I assure you that it is not.

How can I just return to a life that I do not remember? How can I be the king they all want me to be when I don't ever know myself as him? I'm not who I was, and who I _was_ is who they actually want; not me, not Jaden Yuki as I have now become. Until I remember, I can't do anything for them, and it's disappointing them.

The most irritating thing of all is that I genuinely want to remember. Everything they say sounds like the oddest fairytale and I wish that I could only remember it so that things would at last make sense!

I have never wanted to remember more in the four years that I know of my life.

With a groan of annoyance, I fold my arms on the table and lower my head, with an audible thud, into this protective cradle, shutting my eyes tightly.

"I can't do it" I mutter. "I can't see anything!"

There is a general mumble of understanding – they're all being so patient with me and I can't help but wonder how long this will last before they give up – but it is stopped by the clearing of a person's throat, and everyone, myself included, looks at Bastian.

He looks right at me and says "Your Highness, what about Yubel?"

All eyes are back on me; they already know that I have her card – that card is not something I could ever leave out of my story – but I haven't showed them yet.

Tentatively, I reach into the folds on my new clothes and close my fingers carefully around her card, which I naturally would not leave behind. I hesitantly present it to them, but the card lies untouched on the table where I lay it, almost as if they are all unwilling to touch it, and I have no idea why this is.

I am more confused than ever. They asked for her, why don't they want to at least pick up the card? But all they do is stare at it, like they're waiting for something to happen.

I get it then, and I feel like an idiot when the realisation hits me: they are waiting to see Yubel appear. After all, haven't I myself seen her appear?

Well, I saw it only once. And if she can do it more than once, she does not do it here, because the card lies motionless even though we all stare at it, waiting, for over three full minutes.

After this short period of time – during which the tension in the room is thick enough to choke a person and indeed nearly succeeds in doing so to me myself – there is an irritated sigh from Chazz, and he proclaims that she is 'not playing'.

Zane frowns at him and Alexis smacks him upside the head, and then all eyes fall back onto me.

"Well, Your Highness, you remember anything?" Jim asks kindly.

I wish I wasn't disappointing them all, and I wish I could remember, but there is no point whatsoever in lying to them or to myself, and so I can only shake my head.

The meeting ends with Zane and Aster escorting me back to my room in silence, leaving me there alone to change back into my own clothes, for I like them much better than these uncomfortable things.

I am left to my own devices for only a few moments before there is a knock on the door.

Hazeru - Hope it wasn't too confusing.

Hera - Next chapter: two new characters, including the one we're all waiting for ;)

Hazeru - Please R&R!


	9. Chapter 8  Green Eyes

Hazeru - Here's the next chapter. Guess who's in this one? ;)

Hera - Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 8

Green Eyes

The knock at the door is loud enough that I can't really ignore it and pretend that I never heard the sound, even though I don't want to see anyone else today.

"Eh ... come in" I call hesitantly, unsure if this is how I'm supposed to answer a call at the door. Thankfully, it seems to work alright even in this world.

The door opens to reveal a small figure with a shapely, female form and long, dark hair, carrying a tray.

"Good evening, Your Highness" the girl greets me.

Is it evening already? In this strange world, it seems I have absolutely no concept of time; time may not even be the same here as it is in the real world, the world that I am used to. For all I know, the standard twenty-four hour day that I know does not exist here.

"Um ... good evening" I reply, trying to sound polite although I don't know who this girl is or what she wants or what the correct procedure is for receiving visitors at the door. If I am the king of this world, am I supposed to see visitors like this?

"Your dinner, Your Highness" the girl says, beaming at me. "Shall I leave it with you?"

I hesitate before nodding at her. Well, at least I no longer have to wonder when I'll be getting food.

The girl enters the room and sets the tray she is carrying down on a shelf nearby the bed on which I am sat. A glance at this assures me that there is food on the tray, but from this angle I cannot see what it is. However, it smells lovely whatever it is; unfamiliar but not unpleasant.

I draw my eyes away from the tray long enough to take a good look at the young girl who has brought me my dinner. Upon closer inspection, I see that her eyes are almost dark and that her long hair is a navy blue colour. She is dressed in a pitch black dress with a starch apron and although she seems to be a servant, her smile is bright enough to assure me that she is a sunny-disposition sort of person, at least at first meeting.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" I ask her, trying not to offend her.

She turns to me with an expression of surprise which quickly fades into a gentle smile. "My name is Blair" she tells me. "I'm your person lady. I attend to all your needs within your private chambers."

I blink a couple of times, but her kindly expression lets me know that these 'needs' are things such as meals and not anything sexual.

I take an instant liking to this girl, Blair, and it is for this reason: unlike most of the others, she does not intimidate me in any way. She seems friendly enough and I can finally ask her the question which has been bothering me since I left the meeting.

"How many more people do I have to meet, Blair?"

"That depends," she says, "who have you met already?"

I think for a moment, trying to make sure that I don't forget anyone before I list them. "Chazz, Jim and Axel, Zane and Aster ... um, the duke?"

"Bastian?"

"Yeah," I nod. "I know the under-lord and lady, Atticus and ... um ..."

"Alexis" Blair finishes. "She's his sister."

I nod again. "I've met Hasselberry, the head of security. And ... oh, and my secretary. Syrus, I think."

"Yes. Well, Your Highness, now that you know who I am, you've met all but one person of importance."

"Importance?" I inquire.

"Well, there are various servants and staff in the castle, Your Highness, but me and the others oversee their employment and work, so you don't have to bother about them. The only person that you need to know about in the castle is the keeper of the vault."

"Who?"

"The keeper of the vault" Blair continues. "Your Highness, you truly don't remember any of this?"

I look down, and she takes this as the negative and continues, "you see, Your Highness, there is a vault in the very bottom floor of the castle which holds all our riches and treasures. The treasury of Dark World holds the valuables of the kingdom. And the keeper of the vault looks after the vault and makes sure nobody can get into it or interfere with it."

"Who's the keeper?"

"A boy around your own age. His name is Jesse."

I take this all in and then mentally debate whether or not I wish to meet this final person – on one hand, I don't want to meet any more new people today – I'm tired – and yet on the other hand, if I meet them all today, I don't need to do so tomorrow.

And since Blair did say she was here to tend to my needs...

"Can you take me down to see him, Blair?"

"I can go and get your right hand man to do that, Your Highness. I only attend to things in this chamber, so I don't even know my way to the vault."

I gape for a moment before the girl inclines her head – damn it, why the hell does everyone keep doing that! – and departs from the room in search of my right hand man.

Meanwhile, I collapse on the bed, my appetite forgotten and the food on the shelf no doubt going cold. It is the first time in the four years of my life that I remember that I have genuinely had no interest in eating.

/

"It's just through here" Chazz tells me grumpily.

About ten minutes after Blair left, Chazz appeared, his face annoyed but nonetheless he told me that I was to follow him and he would take me down to the vault.

I followed him as he said – wordlessly since I don't really know how to make conversation here – and now we stand in front of a massive stone door, on which he knocks and shouts that he has brought the king to meet him.

There is a shout back from inside the room in an accent that, back in the world I know, would be described as a southern accent, and a reasonably thick one at that, though neither unintelligible nor unpleasant. There is then a scraping sound as the door opens – mechanically, I notice, not manually – and a room lit by torches is revealed.

This room is not like the others: where the others are stone and dull, this room appears to be formed of crystals and is either white or colourless all around; I cannot see a vault yet, but it's likely – by pure common sense – hidden away.

What I can see is a young man walking towards us. He looks to be about my age, with blue hair and a rather odd fashion sense – old fashioned by the standard of the world I used to know, and different from what the others here seem to be wearing. He stops in front of me and inclines his head – damn it, I'm starting to _really_ hate that gesture – before raising his eyes to meet mine.

And what eyes they are! I have never seen, in four years time, eyes such a stunningly clear shade of green. They are the colour of emeralds; of the greenery in the forest; of the green of the oceans – they are rather beautiful, even on a man.

So beautiful, in fact, that I lose my voice for a moment, because I have the feeling, deep down in my gut, that I have seen those eyes somewhere before...

Hazeru - Is he beginning to remember?

Hera - What's so special about Jesse?

Hazeru - -hint hint-

Hera - Please R&R.


	10. Chapter 9  Attack

Hazeru - Hey, guys, here's another chapter.

Hera - And by the way, we've got a poll going for a story that we'd like you to vote for the main pairing in. It closes at the end of the month.

Hazeru - Thanks if you've already voted.

Hera - Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 9

Attack

"My name is Jesse, Your Highness" the boy says, smiling at me despite the puzzled look on my face. "It's sure good to have you back."

I nod once, unable to reply, and the boy frowns.

"You don't remember me, do you?"

This time, I can only shake my head, because I don't remember him.

Or do I? It's true that I cannot ever recall meeting him or even hearing his name, but there's something about those eyes that does somehow seem familiar. In my mind, I can see them, like in the way you can see a memory in your head. The angle of them is odd in my mind, however, almost as if he is above me, looking down at me, and very close. I wonder just how close we were once.

He nods back at me in acknowledgement before saying "the great thing about those old times, Your Highness, is that you can start fresh now."

I don't know how to reply because this one seems ... well, different to the rest of them. He talks to me as if I was actually a friend rather than a king, and I wonder if I knew him very well, better than any of the others, back when I used to truly be the ruler of this world.

"Sorry, but how did I know you?" I ask him plainly, sure by now that he'll answer – the people here seem almost afraid not to.

There is a pause and a worried expression on his face before he tells me, in so quiet a voice that I can barely hear him, that we were once everything to each other.

Instantaneously there is a lump in my throat and I look away from him, keeping my eyes on the floor, because I know what this means – we were together in some personal way, though I don't know exactly how, and for the moment I don't even want to know. We could have been best friends, brothers, lovers, anything...

I am about to excuse myself and head back to my private chambers – for although he seems friendly and kind, Jesse makes me uneasy and highly uncomfortable – but before I can say as much, there is an almighty crash from somewhere above us and the entire castle seems to shake with the force of it. It hardly takes a genius – and trust me, a genius I am not – to realise that something has hit the castle, and hit it hard.

The room around us shakes and the three of us stumble, trying to keep our footing; we manage. From above us, I can hear people yelling and screaming and the thunderous clatter of running footsteps. I turn to Chazz and ask him what the hell just happened and he turns to me with an expression of hatred and fury.

"It's the rebel army!" he shouts, needing to raise his voice to be heard above the noise. "Another of their attacks!"

"We have to get up there and see what's going on!" Jesse shouts, and the three of us all run out – I can't help but note that the two move protectively either side of me, and whenever we turn a corner they try valiantly to put themselves between me and the potential danger lurking. We don't run into anyone, however, until we reach what I assume is one of the main halls. In this room there are various people gathered, some of whom I recognise from earlier and some of whom are clearly servants.

"Is the king alright?" Bastian asks, to which I nod before anyone else can answer for me.

"What's going on?" I demand, reasoning that, if they see me as a king, they'll answer me; I am right.

"We were hit by the rebel army's canons. They've destroyed part of the back wall and the whole of the third meeting room's gone, but Hasselberry's got them on the retreat" Jim tells me.

"Wait, who are the rebel army?" I ask, not really understanding. "What do they want?"

I am so confused. We have been attacked by a rebel army that I have never heard of and I still remember nothing more than a glimpse of green eyes above me, and that isn't helpful at this time.

"They're part of the rebels organised under the runaway rebellion. The rebellion is out to end your rule, Your Highness, and take over Dark World" Jim explains. "They won't run it like you did, though – they'll abuse the people and kill thousands."

"But why are they attacking now?" Bastian demands – well, at least I'm not the only one wondering what's going on.

Jim opens his mouth to begin explaining but a voice interrupts: "They must know that the king's back."

We all turn to look at the person who has just entered the room – it takes me a minute to put a name to the face, but I eventually remember that his name is Aster. Behind him is his companion, whose name, I think, is Zane.

"If they've figured out that he's back, it's likely they'll attack before he remembers anything" Aster tells us. "If they can get him before he can fight back, we don't stand a chance."

"Why are they after me?" I gasp.

"Because you're the king of this world. You're the only one powerful enough to stop the rebellion. If you're gone, they can take over."

Me, powerful enough to crush an entire rebellion? I truly think they've got the wrong guy. But all this has been so overwhelming that, combined with the force of another hit to the castle which topples me to the ground, I can't take any more. I've had too much information in one day, too many new faces and now an attack on top of that, and although I am still desperate to remember everything, the small memory of those green eyes above me is somehow physically fatiguing.

My mind has been pushed to and beyond its limits, and my body can't handle the mental stress.

I hear the shouts of those around me as I faint, my eyes closing and slipping me into the blissful, quiet world of unconsciousness.

Hazeru - And the plot thickens. Rebellion army? Who are they?

Hera - At least he's started remembering.

Hazeru - Only about Jesse xD

Hera - Please R&R.


	11. Chapter 10  New Life

Hazeru - Sorry it's taken me so long to update.

Hera - Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 10

New Life

The dull ache at the back of my skull registers before anything else does – it hurts like hell, like I hit it pretty hard when I fell; I vaguely remember seeing the lights go out and realise that I must have fainted. The second thing that my mind picks up on is that I am back in my private chambers, not alone. Jim and Axel are sat at either side of my bed, their expressions angry and worried at the same time; from across the room, Chazz is leaning against the wall and is glaring at me.

They move as one when I sit up, jumping into what appears to be a routine of asking me where I am injured and if I require a medic; I do not, it's just a bump on the head, and I don't want to ask them for painkillers. Now when I have more important questions.

"What happened?"

"Hasselberry managed to get rid of them" Axel answers. "Their army retreated back and we've got the servants cleaning up downstairs. The casualties were minimal."

"Yeah, but what really happened? Who were they?"

"Like we said, the rebel army."

"Rebel army?" My mind still can't quite process this information even though I remember them explaining this to me before I fainted. "What do they want?"

"Your rule to come to an end" Jim patiently tells me. "They're an army of Dark World fiends and monsters ruled by an evil spirit that calls itself Darkness. They began organising a while back and they've only gotten stronger."

"How did they know I was ... back?" I question, uncertain of whether or not this is the right thing to ask. "Who told them?"

"Nobody from here" Axel assures me. "They have their own ways of finding out. Their psychic probably saw it in the future."

"Their psychic?"

"A man named Sartorius. He used to be on our side, but he went over to the Fiends a long time ago."

I nod, not understanding but knowing that there's nothing new in that; I understand nothing about this world. More importantly, I remember absolutely nothing but a pair of green eyes above me, and somehow I don't think this will help. They don't need me as I am now, they need their King.

And even though they call me their king, I don't think I can be him, even if I was him once upon a time; now, I am not who they think I am, who they want me to be.

But that doesn't mean that I can't try!

After all, I understand one thing: these people are in danger and they are depending on me. Even if I don't know what I'm doing, I'm sure that I can help them out somehow – I never turn my back on anyone – with the help of the people around me. Aren't Jim and Axel my advisors? They'll be able to give me the right advice, surely.

With the first spark of incentive to help, I turn to them with a serious expression and ask, "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, for starters, Your Highness, we need you to get up and come to a meeting with the Lords and the Head of Security."

Nodding, I drag myself out of bed and then proceed to march towards the door – only to be stopped by an arm thrown out in front of me. I look questioningly at Chazz, automatically hesitating and wondering why he's stopping me.

"Hold it, Your Highness" he sneers, his tone radiating anything but respect, "You have to redress for the meeting."

A quick glance at my advisors confirms that much and I allow Chazz to pick out new clothing for me – more black, like they think it's my colour or something even though it's really not – as the other two leave the room.

/

Stepping into the meeting – in a different room to the last one - feels different this time; more professional, less intimidating. Maybe it's because I already know everyone in this room – there's me, the advisors, the Lords and the security guy. I sit at the head of the oval, mahogany-like table, with Hasselberry at the other end and the two sides filled by Jim and Axel, Zane and Aster.

"What do you want me to do?" I ask. Taking in the worried stares I get, I continue with, "I still don't remember anything. I want to help you guys, but I don't know anything about fighting the Fiends or whatever you call them. You're gonna have to give me a hand."

Hasselberry's head drops onto the table; Zane pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and slowly shakes his head; Aster rolls his eyes and looks irritated. Jim and Axel, who already knew that much, do not react at all. When the other three have recovered from this disappointing revelation, I ask them what to do.

"Well, first we have to agree on something" Zane begins, effectively setting the meeting in motion. "If we're going to launch any form of attack on the Fiends' army, we have to convince them into thinking that the King is leading the army."

"We can't let them know that he hasn't recovered his memories" Aster adds, his expression grave. "They'll have more incentive to attack us first if they know he's still in limbo."

"Ain't nobody getting through this fortress, soldier" Hasselberry boasts.

"That doesn't mean that they won't try" Axel argues. "And if they do, people are going to die. You saw what happened today; we lost three of the servants and a dozen warriors. We can't keep suffering losses like that!"

"Never mind all that" Aster interrupts. He turns to me. "Is there any way we can help you to remember? Anything we haven't tried yet? Because if the Fiends know you're not remembering anything, they'll likely try to make sure you stay that way."

I think for a moment and then shake my head. But on second thoughts...

"Was I close to anyone while I was here? Did I have, like, a best friend or anything?" I ask, desperately hoping that they'll say yes. After all, even if I don't remember anything, I'd very much like to have a friend right about now; surely anyone who was once a great friend to me can help me out now, maybe I can even befriend them again. "Anyone in the castle?"

"Just one" Jim shrugs. "You and Jesse were always pretty close. Joined at the hip."

"That cannot happen again" Zane interrupts, looking suddenly annoyed. "You two had an unsuitable relationship; it was halted by you yourself about a week before your disappearance."

"What sort of relationship?" I persist, suspicious and anxious.

"The wrong sort" he answers, and that is the only answer that any of them offer me, so I have no choice but to take it.

However, it's good enough for me. And the good thing about this lot thinking I'm the king is this: they have to do what I tell them.

"I want to spend some time with him. Maybe it'll jog my memories" I announce, trying to make my voice thunder with authority, and succeeding only in having it sound like a pitiful plea; I am that nervous about making demands. "It's our best shot."

Nobody looks too happen about the idea, but nobody disagrees with me.

"Do whatever you have to do to make sure nobody else gets hurt" I say before leaving the room, knowing that this is all I can do for the people I am supposedly meant to rule over until my memories return.

I walk out the door and find Chazz, waiting for me outside the door as he was instructed by the others; it's a routine thing, obviously, since he didn't complain about it even though he obviously didn't agree with not coming into the meeting – for all I know he was listening through the door, I have no idea if he's allowed to do that.

"Take me to see Jesse" I tell him, and he frowns – just like the others, but why? – but tells me to follow him.

I am nervous as I do so – Jesse made me uncomfortable when I met him, after all. But if he was a good friend to me when I was the king here, then he is my best shot at regaining my memories. Even if I am scared and worried and completely unsure of what's going on here in this strange world, I still want my memories back; it's all I've wanted since I first woke up not knowing who I was, and I will not back down now, when I am so close.

Jesse has to be able to help me; those green eyes of his are the only snippet that I can dredge up from the depths of my lost memories. If he can't help me to remember, then there's no hope.

Hazeru - From this point on, Jaden's trying to help them against the rebel army. More on them later, of course.

Hera - Can Jesse help?

Hazeru - And just what was between them?

Hera - Please R&R.


	12. Chapter 11  Discussions

Hazeru - Here's the next chapter.

Hera - Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 11

Discussions

It takes a few minutes of bitter negotiations between Chazz and Jesse before I am left alone with the latter; I can tell that we are only given privacy because I am so set on having it. Even as he leaves the room to wait outside the door – where he will no doubt attempt to listen in – he glares at Jesse, warning him silently against doing something. What, I have no idea.

But we are finally alone and once again I find myself entirely uncomfortable in his presence. He greets me politely enough – that damned incline of the head, which I find myself loathing more and more – and offers that we sit down together at one of the tables in the back area of the room; I didn't even notice this part of the chamber before. I still see no vault, though, so that means it is highly protected and secretive – I wonder idly if Jesse would be obliged to tell me of its whereabouts if I asked, but my interest isn't that great. I've got more important questions for him.

But I don't even know where to start. So instead I claim to be thirsty and watch as Jesse instantaneously beckons over a young servant girl who has until now been hovering close to the doorway. She takes his orders and scurries off, returning mere moments later with a tray that holds two glasses – well, they're not made of glass; they look more like stone goblets. Nevertheless, I take mine and thank her; the look of surprise she gives me tells me that I shouldn't have thanked her at all, and I wonder why the king doesn't need to have manners.

There is still nothing but silence around us, and I can see Jesse beginning to fidget uncomfortably; I sort of know how he feels since I never like sitting still and doing nothing for too long either, unless sleep is involved. Inevitably, I speak first – I'm beginning to think that he isn't allowed to talk to me until I address him.

"Jim told me that we used to be close" I begin, watching him nod once in confirmation. "I don't remember anything and I need some help. Anything you can do?"

"I'm not sure, Your Highness" he says, looking away like he can't hold my gaze.

"Try. Just tell me about ... how I used to be."

He shuffles around uncomfortable, looking very much like he wants to say something that he just isn't saying. Eventually, though, he looks up at me and sighs.

"You were a very strong duellist" he says tentatively. "The whole of Dark World used to be afraid to duel you because you were so strong. But you didn't ... you never really abused those abilities."

"What's a duellist?" I ask dumbly, completely confused again.

He startles and then grins. "You've seen those things that everyone carries on their arms?" To emphasise his point, Jesse raises his arm and lets me see the strange device that is attached to his forearm. "These are called duel disks. We all use cards to fight around here. We don't use actual weapons in Dark World, Your Highness, we use these cards."

I shake my head, confused beyond all comprehension. Fighting with cards? That's a hell of a new one. But I listen anyway, prepared to accept anything since nothing in this world holds true to the one I knew before.

"Well, anyway, you got to be the king because of your skills in duelling. You were the best" Jesse tells me, smiling – dare I say it? – fondly. "You had a special deck, too ..."

But he looks away, as if talking about the 'deck' pains him. Reflexively, I tell him not to talk about it, just in case; if it's that important, I can get someone else to tell me later. Besides, as interesting and eye-opening as this all is, this isn't the sort of information that I crave. I don't want to know what I was like as a duellist. I want to know what I was like as a person.

But when I ask him to tell me just that, he ducks his head apologetically.

"You were a good king. You could be very strict but you kept any rebellion away and the people were safe under your rule. Everything was great until your disappearance."

I look away, not knowing what to say to this – I can't even offer him an explanation, because I don't know how I disappeared or how I came to be living in Scotland, back in the world I was familiar with for the four years of my life that I remember.

"And what about us?" I persist, trying to hit the nail on the head since he's been suspiciously avoiding this issue every since we started talking. "Zane said that we had an 'unsuitable relationship'. What did he mean by that?"

Jesse fidgets again, looking up at me and then quickly glancing away. He then sighs deeply and meets my eyes, even though I can tell he's highly reluctant to do it. "We had a ... relationship ... that was seen by others as inappropriate. We were fine but others didn't ... they didn't like it. So we had to stop."

"Stop what?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I can't say."

"Why not?"

"I'm under orders not to speak a word of it to anyone, especially you yourself."

"Well, I'm the king aren't I?" He nods, and I continue, "So I'm telling you that you can say anything you want."

"It doesn't work like that, Your Highness. No matter what you say now, I still can't tell you."

"Why not?" I growl, getting impatient and frustrated. "Who told you that you couldn't tell me?"

He looks up at me with eyes filled with pain and anger. "You did, Your Highness. Before you disappeared."

I can't even reply to this – I don't know how. I told someone that I was close with – in ways that are still a mystery to me – not to talk about our 'relationship' to anyone, especially me myself? Why would I do that?

It occurs to me that I might have been protecting myself – or perhaps even protecting Jesse – from something. But that doesn't exactly help me right now.

With a sigh, I realise that Jesse's loyalty lies with the true king, who is not really me until I get my memories back. He will not tell me, and I cannot command him to. I wouldn't, not now, when he looks so hurt and angry and upset.

I get to my feet and, without a farewell of any kind, leave the room, more confused than ever and angry at myself – my past self – for making my life so difficult.

Hazeru - Now, why would he forbid Jesse to talk? And then he disappeared so soon afterwards ...

Hera - Please R&R.


	13. Chapter 12 - Hello Old Friend

Hazeru - Sorry it's taken so long to update this. Still, second story upate of the day!

Hera - Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 12

Hello Old Friend

I'm back in my private chambers, all alone with whatever passes for daylight - certainly not the bright, warm sun that I've known for the four years of my life which I remember - visible through the window. My right hand man asked to stay with me, probably for an interrogation on what Jesse said to me, but I refused. I don't want to speak to anyone, I want to be alone. I've heard too much and my last conversation with Jesse has given me more questions and no answers.

I am the King; or at least I was the king once. These people need me to be that person, that ruler, but I'm simply not him. Whoever he was could turn a rebel army away in fear; whoever he was had a personal relationship of some sort with Jesse and ordered him not to speak to me about it. Why would I ever tell someone I was close to not to speak to me about our relationship? Did I do it out of fear or love, for him or for me? If our relationship was 'unsuitable' or 'inappropriate', then how?

My life makes no sense and all of a sudden I desperately want to go home. Back to that silly little place in Scotland where life had little meaning but it was safe, and I was familiar with the place and I understood my own life.

But I know that I can't go. Whatever has caused me to forget obviously did it so that it could destroy or take over this world - that thing called Darkness, what the hell _is _it? - and I can stop it. I'm supposed to be able to stop it, at least, and I have to try. If I don't, all these people are going to get hurt. People have died in an attack in the short time that I've been here and that can't go on.

Thoughts swirl around my head and my head is still aching; it feels like each individual thought is whacking itself off my skull at a hundred miles per hour. There's too much going on in there - I'm not typically a strong thinker! - and as I fall asleep, I wonder if I'm going into a natural sleep or if this is technically passing out from exhaustion.

/

_Those eyes. Those gleaming green eyes, right above my face, so close and so beautiful; emerald pools that I could just get lost in. Anybody could. I just stare up at them and suddenly nothing else exists. But whenI look properly into those eyes, I can tell that something is wrong. He doesn't look tranquil, as I think I do; he looks sad, so sad, and blinks - don't do that! - and the green shatters. Suddenly they are no longer above me and everything is black and I am falling, falling..._

I sit straight up, panting slighlty and looking around worriedly as I get my bearings. Still in my personal chambers, still alone and feeling slightly flushed and sweaty; this is a familiar enough feeling, though. It was just a nightmare.

Why? Why is it a nightmare? It could have been a dream but it was in fact a nightmare and this has to mean something. Those green eyes above me, looking so sad and almost afraid; this scares me and I realise with a start that it was not a nightmare at all, but a memory. I didn't just remember those eyes above me, I actually remembered what I felt at that time when I was looking up into those eyes! It's a very small memory - just a feeling, really - but it is something.

I calm down, wondering why the angle is like that. I mean, it could mean anything. Perhaps I'd passed out and woken up from unconciousness and he was awaiting my awakening; perhaps I'd needed the kiss of life and he'd performed it; perhaps he was my lover and he was actually on top of me. I blush at the mere thought of the last one, thinking it ridiculous - and yet, it would explain why Jesse said that we once meant everything to each other. Though it doesn't explain why he was ordered by me not to talk about it, why it ended, or why those eyes in my dream looked so very sad.

I am left alone for a while and I fall into another, dreamless sleep. When I wake up I feel slightly refreshed and so I know that I've been left alone for a while. I'm pretty hungry, and there is still the tray of food that was left by Blair. It's stone cold now, of course, but I wolf it down regardless. There's meat of some sort - tastes like spicy beef or something near to it - and what I assume is a vegetable; it's bright blue but tastes pleasantly sweet. There's also something which has the shape and texture of a rice-cake but tastes like strong coffee; I don't take more than one bite of that, it's bitter and somehow congealed.

I'm about to go off in search of someone - anyone - but the door opens and I'm on my feet, ready. My right hand man enters the room. There is a small box in his hands, flat and expensive looking.

"Your Highness, there's something you've got to see." His voice is laced with bitterness and annoyance, and I wonder why I ever appointed this man to be my right hand when it seems obvious to me now that he doesn't like me. Or maybe it's just this me - this me that isn't really the king - that he doesn't like.

I beckon him forward warily and he thrusts the box towards me; I hold it in my hands, just feeling the light weight of it and running one finger over the surface to feel the texture. It looks like wood and is smooth like wood, but it is distinctly cold like metal, and definitely not something which I recognise.

Chazz clears his throat purposefully beside me and I take the hint and open the box. Inside is a deck of cards - but not any cards like the ones I know from back home, in the other world. In the world where I've been living for the last four years, cards come with spades and diamonds, clubs and hearts, and have numbers or royals on them. These cards are completely different. In fact, I've only ever seen one single card in my life which looks like these ones - the Yubel card which I can always remember having. I glance at Chazz for confirmation - after all, I still know very little about this world and nothing about who I am - and when he nods, I lift them out and give him the box; from the grudgingly accepting way that he takes if from me, I can tell that he's used to me handing him things to hold but that he really dislikes it.

I hold the cards in my hand, flicking from one to the next; there's maybe fifty of them. Each one has a different picture and a symbol and a name and writing at the bottom. They feel light in my hands and ... I can't explain it but somehow they feel so familiar. I look up at Chazz once I've skimmed through about half of the deck.

"What are these?" I whisper, awed by them.

"Your duelling deck."

"My..." I remember what Jesse said earlier, about me being the best duellist and how others were scared to duel me. "I duelled, didn't I? With these cards?" Chazz starts to look enlightened and I hastily tell him that Jesse told me. He looks disappointed but nods. "All these cards that I could use..."

"Actually, not quite all."

"Huh?"

"Your Highness, just before you disappeared, you instructed us that one of your cards be locked away and that you never be allowed to touch it unless it was the only way. You told us that it was a last resort."

"What card was that?"

"Super Polymerisation, Your Highness."

Super Polymeris... _Super Polymerisation_!

I gasp as images flood my mind, memories rushing back to me.  
><em>My voice, or at least a voice very similar to mine, calls out the name of that card and holds it high, though I can't see the image. I can only see the face of my opponent - obstructed by some sort of helmet - and the feelings rush into me; I feel powerful.<em>

"Your Highness? Your Highness!?" Chazz is shaking me, the cards are scattered on the floor and I am shaking. He grabs my shoulders. "Did you remember something?"

I nod weakly and gasp. "I was shouting out the name of that card. Super Polymerisation. I ... I don't know what I was doing."

"Duelling." Chazz sighs, turning away with a frown. "I have to go talk to the advisors. If that's all you can remember then we're all in trouble."

"Trouble? Trouble how?"

"Don't worry about it. Just look at your cards, they might trigger some memories for you."

"I remembered a feeling earlier. In a dream!" I tell him before he can turn away. "I remember seeing green eyes. Jesse's eyes, above me, and what I felt right then. And just now! I could feel like I did then. I felt ... powerful. Holding that card."

Chazz looks grim. "Get some rest, Your Highness." And with those words, he is gone.

I sigh and bend down to start picking up the cards; there is a sudden gasp in the doorway and suddenly Blair is by my side, hastily saying, "please, Your Highness, allow me to do that!"

She picks up all the cards and arranges them in a neat pile while I perch on the edge of the bed uncomfortably. I want to help but I get the feeling that I'm not supposed to. She hands them to me and I thank her; Blair appears dimly surprised before she gives me a cheerful smile and scurries out of the room.

Alone once again, I look at the cards. The names are unfamiliar to me and yet each one stirs up a little twinge of ... well, _something_, in my chest. It's not happiness and it's not pride but it's something close to each of them simultaneously.

Flare Scarab, Sparkman, Air Hummingbird, Clayman. The names are not familiar. So why do I feel like they should be? I must have known their names off by heart once, back when I was the King they want me to be.

I skim through the entire deck, feeling strange emotionally all the while, until at last I hold the final card in my hand. And here I pause.

Because even though I know that I have never, not once in the four years that I can recall, seen this card or heard it's name, it is so familiar. I instantly feel like I have found an old friend. I can't remember how, or why, this card means so much to me, but already I know that it is familiar.

I allow a small smile to grace my face, wondering why I have an instant to this card and reading the name printed at the top aloud. "Winged Kuriboh."

* * *

><p>Hazeru - Hope you all enjoyed, more coming soon!<p>

Hera - Please R&R!


	14. Chapter 13 - Explanations

Hazeru - Another update.

Hera - Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 13

Explanations

Well, this is uncomfortable.

I am currently sitting on the bed in my chambers, fiddling absentmindedly with the cards I was given; surrounding the bed are Chazz, Jim and Axel, Zane and Aster. They all wear similiar grave expressions.

After I was left alone with the cards, I must have fallen asleep again. I have no idea how long ago, exactly, that was and my best guess is somewhere between two and six hours. Then Chazz awakened me and told me that we had a major problem. Now, I'm not sure what's going on but I can tell, just by the atmosphere in the room, that my earlier conversation with him has them all scared.

Super Polymerisation ... just the name has the power to shake me to the core, because I have the vaguest memory of feeling so powerful when using it in a duel. Or maybe it scares me simply because I can tell that, somehow, it scares everyone else.

It seems to be the only one that does. None of the other cards - still in my hands - seem to bother anybody; when I told them that I sort of remembered Winged Kuriboh, everyone was pleased to hear it. I still don't know why exactly Winged Kuriboh seems so familiar - I can't remember him, really - but I don't let that particular card stray far. I have wondered if I should add my treasured Yubel card to the rest, but somehow it doesn't seem right. After all, that one card is the only thing I had for those four years from my previous life in this world; Yubel is somehow different to all the other cards, even Winged Kuriboh.

I look up at Chazz, who closes his eyes and clears his throat; clearly whatever he has to say pains him.

"Your Highness, if the only thing you can remember is Super Polymerisation, then things are worse than we thought."

"How come?" I ask, curious as well as afraid.

Chazz doesn't answer, so Jim jumps into the strained conversation. "You didn't always have that card, Your Highness; you created it. At great personal cost" he tells me. "It was your most powerful card but over time, you lost control of it."

"How can you lose control of a card?"

"They're not just cards" Aster says, sitting down on the bed next to me and plucking up a random card from the pile beside me. "Each card has a special ability. They're home to spirits and monsters, and strange powers. We don't understand fully how they work, but they have to be controlled by a duellist."

I don't understand, not really, but I nod nevertheless.

"Once, you lost control over Super Polymerisation. People got hurt, Your Highness; good people." Aster pauses, as if he wants to say more but can't. With a short sigh, he continues, "after you regained control over the card, you realised how powerful it really was."

"You had us lock it away, to be used only as a last resort" Axel adds.

I nod to show my understanding of this, but I'm still confused - if the card was so powerful that I was scared enough to lock it up, why didn't I just have it destroyed? I voice this question aloud, and they exchange odd glances.

"The Fiend army had just began to rise up" Zane eventually responds. "Even right after your moment of weakness, you realised the need to keep the card within your reach."

"Why?"

"You may have needed it. If you'd ever come up against the Darkness" Aster explains. "The one in charge of the Fiends. Nobody has ever seen it duel. Nobody knows what sort of deck it uses, and we don't like not knowing. Just in-case, you had Super Polymerisation stored safely; so you'd have a back-up, powerful card if you ever had to duel the Darkness."

"Hold on" I say. "What exactly _is _the Darkness?"

Everyone pauses, and they once again exchange glances - I don't like that, it's like they're silently conferring. Eventually, it's Axel who speaks up.

"We don't know. Nobody knows for sure. There are all sorts of rumours about who or what it else, where it came from, how it got here..."

"The only thing we know for sure is what it wants" Chazz interrupts. "The throne."

"The throne?" I repeat.

"He who has the throne controls this world" Zane says.

"And that used to be you, and that was alright" Jim says, smiling slightly. "Because you were tough, and strict and too harsh sometimes - but you were never a bad person. You lost control once, Your Highness, but you overcame that. This world ... it was better when you were in charge."

"But then you disappeared, right when we needed you most" Aster says, and it amazes me that his tone is so neutral when the words are an accusation. He notices the look on my face, though, and puts one hand tentatively on my arm, clearly not used to doing so. "It's alright, Your Highness. We know that you don't remember why you disappeared yet."

_Yet_?!

He says the right things but they mean nothing, because what he means - what they all mean - is that I'm useless to them right now, and I will be until I regain my memories.

"Listen, guys..." I start, not sure exactly what to say. "I only remember little bits and pieces. I can't even remember any of you." This saddens them - Jim's face loses its smile, Axel closes his eyes and Aster removes his hand from my arm. "If I can only help you once I remember, then I think we need a different approach."

"What sort of approach, Your Highness?"

"Um ... I don't know." I grin sheepishly. "Walk around outside, maybe?"

They all frown at the suggestion.

"Too dangerous, Your Highness" Axel says. "Hasselberry has the Fiends pushed way back from here, but so soon after an attack it would be foolish for you to go out. A rogue warrior could be lingering."

I hesitate. "Then, I can't think of anything else besides ..."

"Besides what, Your Highness?"

I feel so bad that I can't help them without my memories; they're clearly desperate. I suppose things have been hard for them for the past four years, assuming that time passes in this world as it does in the other world.

"Tell Jesse I want to talk to him."

* * *

><p>Hazeru - What lies ahead...?<p>

Hera - Please R&R.


End file.
